Phil Askey runs a site called Digital Photography Review, or DPReview, and seems to be on such good terms with camera manufacturers that he gets preview information and products to test before news are introduced to the public. These sneak previews are often under an embargo which means that DPReview has agreed not to disclose information before a certain date. Now Phil has become very annoyed by the fact that news, photos and rumours constantly “leak” from Nikon and Canon. According to Moderskeppet where I picked this story up, this is done intentionally by these companies in order to build a hype before a product launch.

DPReview posts about the rumours of a new digital Nikon D40 camera on Nov 6 and cannot confirm it until Nov 16, the date when the official press release is distributed. In the meantime such sites like Gizmodo and Engadget had already published detailed info and photos of the D40.

The effect on DPReview is that everyone already knows about this new product and the site that is supposed to be the expert now looks like a fool for not commenting. When they finally can, it’s already yesterday’s news.

So by trying to have it both ways, these companies are making bloggers happy, while they are destroying relations to other important stakeholders. A strategy that most likely will backfire.